VILLAGE DE KULEN VAKUF

Set on a meander of the Una River, Kulen Vakuf/Кулен Вакуф (pronounced "kulen vakouf") is the largest village in the national park. The place is pleasant and enjoys beautiful scenery with two small islands and the ruins of fortresses set on hills on both sides of the river: Ostrovica dominates the valley at 500 m above sea level on the left bank (southwest), while on the hill on the right bank the imposing walls of Havala, at 400 m above sea level, remain. Both are accessible by paths with picnic areas and offer beautiful views. In the center of the village, the Sultan-Ahmed mosque marks the memory of a tumultuous past. Built around 1610, when the village was founded, it was named after the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed I (1590-1617), but was destroyed and rebuilt three times in the 20th century. Nearby are the charming café in the central square, two grocery stores, a currency exchange (in the only post office in the park), restaurants along the Una River, the Saraj Pension, several homestays such as Galijašević (+387 37 36 51 11) and two campsites in the vicinity.

Former trading port. Today the village has just under 500 inhabitants, mostly Bosnians. But before the last war, its population amounted to more than 2,000 people, of which 70% were Bosniaks and 25% Bosnian-Serbs. The Bosnian inhabitants fled when the village was captured by the Bosnian-Serb army in 1992. The Bosnian-Serbs in turn left when the Bosnian army liberated the area in 1995. Only a part of the Bosnian population returned to settle. An important river trading port during the Ottoman period, the small town was first known as Džisri Kebir (a distortion of the Arabic jisr el-kebir, "great bridge") and Palanka. It took its present name in the 19th century when new buildings were erected thanks to a donation(vakuf) from an Ottoman officer from the region, Mahmut pasha Kulenović (1776-1806). The village was almost wiped off the map in December 1941 during a series of massacres committed by Croatian Ustasha, Serbian Chetniks and partisans. Several agencies offer rafting and kayaking trips down the Una River from Kulen Vakuf to the Štrbački Buk waterfalls. In addition to the price of equipment rental or supervised excursion, there is a fee of 6-12 KM/person depending on the destination.